Anne Arundel County's police chief said he stands by his department's decision to charge a man with murder in the shooting death of another man last year.

Chief Kevin Davis spoke to the Anne Arundel County chapter of the NAACP at a rally Thursday to discuss the death of 25-year-old Kendall Green nearly a year ago, as well as the Michael Brown shooting in Missouri.

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Matthew Pinkerton was charged with second-degree murder in connection with Green's shooting in September 2013. Investigators said he shot Green as he tried to enter Pinkerton's home and talk to his wife, with whom Green had a relationship.

Pinkerton was charged with second-degree murder and requested a jury trial. But after the prosecution rested its case, Judge William Mulford granted the defense's request for an acquittal. Pinkerton walked free, and the jury never got to decide the case.

Green's family is pushing for the case to be tried in federal court as a hate crime because witnesses said Pinkerton called Green a racial slur before the shooting.

The group has the support of four members of Congress, who sent a letter to the Justice Department on its behalf.